Faith in art

FAITH IN ART Father Peter Clarke, president of Morris Catholic High School, Denville takes a “selfie” with (from left), Salesian Sister Margaret Rose Buonaiuto, director of religious education at St. James of the Marches Parish, Totowa, and Salesian Sister Betty Ann Martinez, religious education director of St. Anthony Parish, Hawthorne, after his talk, “The Sights of Advent: Using Sacred Art to Better Under­stand the Advent Season” Dec. 12.

MOUNTAIN LAKES Over centuries, masterpiece paintings have artfully captured the beauty and drama of many defining moments in Christ’s life — from sweet scenes of his Nativity to emotional depictions of a “doubting” St. Thomas touching Jesus’ wounds after his Crucifixion and Resur­rection. But recently, a diocesan priest suggested that Catholics could get more — and deeper — spiritual insights about Jesus, Mary and other biblical figures than meet the eye by opening their hearts to Christ in prayer and contemplation, as they view these religiously-themed works of art.

On Dec. 12, Father Peter Clarke, Ed. D., president of Morris Catholic High School, Denville, suggested ways for Catholics to look at these masterpieces prayerfully to help them in their faith journeys in a talk, “The Sights of Advent: Using Sacred Art to Better Understand the Advent Season” at St. Catherine of Siena Parish. His talk that morning was part of an Advent retreat for 30 members of the longtime Catechetical Leaders Association (CLA) of the Diocese of Paterson. Father Clarke’s timeless reflections can continue to help deepen the spirituality of Catholics in the Diocese well beyond the Christmas season.

“Today, I ask you to look at these paintings, guided by the practice of Lexio Divina [praying the Scriptures], but this time examining the work slowly, ruminating on it, praying and listening to God and then contemplating its meaning,” said Father Clarke in his talk. In St. Catherine’s parish center, the priest explored the possible spiritual meanings of several pieces of religiously themed paintings, while displaying slides of them on a large TV. “These artists — like Greco and Rembrandt — have been inspired to paint these scenes by their own faith journeys,” he said.

Directors of religious education from around the Diocese, who gathered for the retreat, looked at many paintings that depicted Christ’s birth, including “Adoration of the Shepherds” in 1614 by El Greco. In it, he shows a bright light emanating from Jesus’ crib to illuminate the entire manger, including the faces of Mary, Joseph, the Wise Men, shepherds and the angels.

“The painting symbolizes that Jesus is the light of the world, lighting up even the dark corners of the world — shown by the dark corners in the scene,” Father Clarke said.

Many of the paintings that Father Clarke showed depicted scenes from Jesus’ ministry as an adult, such as “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee” by Rembrandt in 1633. This work shows waves of a storm tossing around a boat on the sea, as the Apostles in a panic, attempt to wake up Jesus, who lies sleeping at the bow — like in the Scripture story.

“This shows that we all have storms in our lives and sometimes we want to scream, ‘Jesus, what are you doing.’ But we know that Christ is here for us. We must remember who is in charge. He is in control and he walks with us on our journey from darkness to light,” said Father Clarke, while also inviting insights about the artwork from the audience.

Then, Father Clarke moved to Christ after his Resurrection with “The Incredulity of Thomas” by Caravaggio around 1602. It shows “doubting” Thomas touching the wound of Crucifixion on Jesus’ left hand, while two men — presumably disciples — look on.

“Jesus went to the ultimate lengths to prove his love for us,” Father Clarke said. “Maybe in the painting, Christ is telling Thomas, ‘If you don’t believe me, here are my words’; ‘Then if you don’t believe me, here is my passion and death’; and ‘If you still don’t believe me, here I am — and the holes in my hands and side — to show my Resurrection.’ Like Thomas, priests don’t have everything figured out; we are working through the mysteries of faith,” he said.

Toward the end of the talk, Father Clarke showed a modern painting “The Annuncia­tion with the Angel Gabriel and Mary” by John Collier in 2000. It depicts the Blessed Mother as a girl in a modern dress, looking over an open book at the angel, bowed in prayer, to listen to his message from God. The painting suggests that, right up to this modern age, “God asks us every day to cooperate with his plans, like Mary did,” Father Clarke said.

Interspersed between Father Clarke’s talks about the paintings were fun quizzes about Advent. The priest also led the group in the prayers for each of the four weeks of Advent and Christmas. The retreat began with Mass in St. Catherine’s Church, celebrated by Father Jared Brogan, pastor.

“Thanks, Father Peter, for giving us things to think about to inspire us this Advent,” said Deidre Nemeth, CLA president and director of religious education at St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Stirling.

Each year, the CLA invites catechetical leaders from around the Diocese to four meetings, including a retreat day in June. Held during the day, these gatherings serve as opportunities to further education sharing resources and new ideas, spiritual reflection and fellowship, Nemeth said.

“CLA is a valuable and supportive organization that offers extra support for the catechetical leaders of the Diocese,” said Ivannia Vega-McTighe, Diocesan associate academic dean for evangelization, who noted that CLA also holds evening gatherings for catechetical leaders five times yearly.